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ANKARA, Dec 21 — Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah cut short his official visit to Turkey and postponed his trip to India following the flood situation in Malaysia.
The Indera Mahkota Member of Parliament said the disaster had impacted some 2,932 individuals in his constituency who were relocated to 10 temporary relief centres.
“The Pusat Khidmat Parlimen Indera Mahkota is operational 24 hours. We have been assisting since day one with relocations and distributing food baskets” he told Bernama, here today.
The foreign minister is scheduled to arrive in Malaysia tomorrow evening.
Saifuddin also said he had a phone call with his Indian counterpart Dr S Jaishankar and the minister conveyed his sympathy and condolences on the disaster as well as India’s readiness to assist if needed.
“This was also conveyed by my counterparts from Turkey and Pakistan,” he said.
Originally Saifuddin was scheduled to be in Turkey until December 22 before heading to India, for his first official visit to both countries after being appointed as foreign minister last August.
The minister who arrived in Ankara on December 19 held a bilateral meeting with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday.
In the meeting, they discussed on expanding Free Trade Agreement between both countries, as well as other areas of cooperation including trade, health, security and defence.
The two foreign ministers also discussed on regional issues including the situation in Afghanistan.
Saifuddin also paid a courtesy call on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Complex the same day. — Bernama
